EDMOND — Leon "T-Bone” McDonald almost stayed home this year.
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For a while, the 84-year-old T-Bone — a 1948 Oklahoma State graduate and diehard Cowboy fan — decided he was going to sell his tickets to the 78th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which begin today in St. Louis, Mo.
T-Bone insisted family is more important, and he had somewhere to be — despite an 80-year history of watching the NCAA championships.
"I decided I would stay there and celebrate with them,” says T-Bone, who has seven children, 22 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. "My great-granddad and I were best friends, but he passed away when I was 10, so I make myself available for all my great-grandchildren.”
Turns out, T-Bone got the best of both worlds. His family moved the gathering to the fall, and he didn't have to sell the tickets.
When T-Bone was a little boy in 1928, his dad, Leon "T-Bone” McDonald Sr., took him to the first annual NCAA Wrestling Championships. The younger T-Bone says he's been going ever since, with the only years missed while serving under General George S. Patton in World War II. And even then, T-Bone says, it was only a year or two because the championships weren't held between 1943 and 1945.
"Wrestling's the only fair sport there is,” says McDonald, with the energetic bravado of a person decades younger, his age only betrayed by the wheezing brought on by emphysema. "You've got two individuals, both down to the lean and the mean – and it's exciting. You can't blame anybody but yourself if you get whipped.”
T-Bone can credit his dad for the streak and for the nickname, which has turned into something akin to a family heirloom. Story goes that after an Oklahoma A&M (now OSU) track meet in the 1910s, freshman track athlete Leon McDonald Sr. discovered the provided food was free – so he proceeded to devour three t-bone steaks. The name stuck, and has been stuck to seemingly every male member in the McDonald family.
And the wrestling championship isn't the only event where T-Bone is a permanent fixture.
At Oklahoma State, T-Bone's trademark orange polo shirt, Cowboy-themed black suspenders, and floppy orange and black hat have been seen at OSU football, basketball, baseball, and wrestling events for more years than anyone can remember.
T-Bone says he was fraternity brothers with legendary OSU wrestling coach Ed Gallagher, and friends with famed basketball coach Henry Iba.
"T-Bone has definitely been coming to things forever and ever and ever. The guy's at everything,” said OSU senior associate athletic director Dave Martin, who has been at OSU for more than 25 years. "We appreciate fans like T-Bone and the dedication they have to sports and our athletes.”
So, after driving up – he always drives, never flies – to Missouri early in the week with his son Glenn McDonald and an old fraternity brother, T-Bone will be in the stands when the first match starts at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis today. And don't be surprised to see him in St. Louis again next year … and then in Nebraska … and Philadelphia …
"Long as the good Lord will let me,” T-Bone says, laughing. "I'm the youngest man for my age in the universe – 84 years going on 14.”
"When my son gets too old (to go with me), I'll let my grandsons do it. When they get too old, I'll let my great-grandkids. Habit's hard to break.”
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As an undergrad at OSU in the mid-50s, I was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, which was also T-Bone's fraternity. He came over regularly to regale us with his many stories and gave us lots of advice. He was legendary for personally recruiting about 40 pledges on-campus his senior year. I've had the opportunity to see and talk with him over the years a few times, and he is STILL legendary! Truly an inspiring individual, and still going strong!
Thank you for this article on a great Cowboy. T-Bone means so much to so many people. He is truly a legend in his own time. You won't find many with better stories to tell.
T-Bone is one of the great ambassadors of the university. I always enjoy him at wrestling nationals and afternoon games at the Big 12 baseball tournament. He is a great guy, with a sharp mind. I know he has taken many OSU young men under his wing and given them great advice. Plan your work and work your plan, he would always say when talking about the future.
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